Is Canada in Decline? Nathan Yip
As it stands in recent years, Canada’s aging population has been growing, and growing quickly… It is not an unavoidable issue, but it still is one nonetheless. As people grow older and retire, they are effectively removed from the workforce, and the ratio of retired people to working people is beginning to slide, although very slowly. The Canadian population over the age of 65 is projected to grow from 18% to nearly 26% in the next 50 years, and the number of workers is expected to drop by 5% in 2068, which may not sound like a lot, but the estimation is nation-wide, for millions of people. With fewer working people to stimulate the economy and care for the elderly, Canada could potentially reach a crisis point by 2080 if rates continue in such a fashion, and “baby-boomers” are a second risk factor which is steadily speeding the process of Canada’s slow, but ever prevalent decline.
Workers are in an ever increasing demand as new jobs open and sectors of work are created, though as people reach a retiring age, typically with a large amount of wealth to enjoy life, the way they spend their money stimulates the markets in potentially hazardous ways; not enough to destabilize anything for sure, but does raise market prices and creates minor disruption in some cases… Does this mean the elderly cannot enjoy the remainder of their lives? No, of course not… Those who are retired are and should be allowed to enjoy themselves and have fun, but should also be at least mindful of where their money goes when they spend it. That being said, baby-boomers, those who retire with massive sums of wealth, overspend on various things and drastically stimulate the market collectively, and make it difficult for students to get into college or university, raise the prices of homes and properties, and other such negative market effects, which would not affect them or the upper class, but causes mass disruption and problems for the middle and lower class.
Topped off with a decrease in available workers, an ever increasing population, and a slowly failing economy, Canada will be put into a severe crisis at some point in the future… It will take an extremely long time for any of this to begin to have a major effect, but when it does happen, everything will likely fall down fast and hard. It is difficult to say when exactly this may occur, if it even does, but most estimates fall around 2070-2090. The solution to the aging crisis is currently still unclear, as it would be wrong to tell the elderly to get back to work, and further raising the population would simply increase the severity of the problem, and delay it further down the line; but would not entirely eliminate it.
Tax revenue may also begin to decline as well, leading to a lowered government finance, and thus, constraints on government spending; and with a slowly declining healthcare industry, may reach a critical point should the issue continue at the rate it is going at today… Interest rates will continue to rise, and national instability will follow. If we are to avoid this crisis, our government will need to adopt pro-growth policies, and make sustainable changes for the better future of the nation.